WNIR (FM)

WNIR (100.1 FM) – branded WNIR 100 FM – is a commercial talk radio station licensed to Kent, Ohio, serving the Akron metro area. Owned by Media-Com, Inc., the station is the local affiliate for programs hosted by nationally syndicated personalities Jim Bohannon and Mike Gallagher. The WNIR studios are located in Franklin Township, while the station transmitter resides in Kent. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WNIR is available online.

History

The station began on February 19, 1962, as WKNT-FM. It shared the call letters with its sister AM station WKNT/1520 (now WJMP) which signed on two years later, and most programming was simulcast on both stations. The stations were owned by the publisher of the Kent Ravenna Record-Courier newspaper and primarily served the Portage County area with an adult contemporary format.

The stations were purchased in 1972 by Media-Com, Inc., a family-owned business headed by Richard Klaus. Klaus lured a young Howie Chizek from Youngstown to man a five-hour midday talk show, changing the station's history forever. The call sign for the FM station was changed to WNIR on April 19, 1979, and it was branded Winner 100. Eventually, the AC music was dropped, and the station became all talk, adding Joe Finan in late afternoons in 1985 to replace a "GameRadio" afternoon drive show, hosted by Bob Roberts and Joey Harper.